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Anderson made Kevin Goldstein's mid-season list of players rated in the Top 100 to start the year who have fallen the furthest. His comment said that some scouts said his ceiling is now "starter on a second division team" which is quite a distance from where he was to start the year.

Anderson was ranked #17 by BA in the preseason and was #40 in the preseason in 2008. Falling back to the 25-50 range for this season is reasonable. Dropping him off a list of top prospects is overreaction.

Anderson seems to me like a classic case of a team's fans over-valuing its own prosects. Well do I remember the "we don't need Tex, we've got Anderson" posts of this winter.

I don't recall that being a common sentimaent. Also, he was rated #17 by BA. It wasn't only the fans who had him highly rated.

Anderson made Kevin Goldstein's mid-season list of players rated in the Top 100 to start the year who have fallen the furthest. His comment said that some scouts said his ceiling is now "starter on a second division team" which is quite a distance from where he was to start the year.

I'm not saying they're wrong about that assessment, but if you can rate a guy in the top 20 and 70 games later he's a "starter on a second division team," there's something wrong. And "second division team?" What is this, 1949? Maybe he should call for more high pitches when he steps in against the opposing hurler.

I'm really high on CH Lin. ~.800 OPS since a disastrous first month of the season. That also includes a 39/31 BB/K ratio and he leads the organization in LD%. He's only 20 and in high-A. He is the best defensive outfielder in the organization and his arm is arguably better than Reddick's. At worst, I think he has a So Taguchi like career in the majors. More likely, he's a right-handed Ellsbury with a better arm.

And "second division team?" What is this, 1949? Maybe he should call for more high pitches when he steps in against the opposing hurler.

when I was a kid and read old-timey baseball stories they always mentioned this "second division" and I had no idea what they were talking about. I also didn't understand when the pitcher was pitching from "the box," wasn't there always a rubber or was there just an area in the early days?

I don't recall that being a common sentimaent. Also, he was rated #17 by BA. It wasn't only the fans who had him highly rated.

I'll grant that I didn't make a scientific study of who made these statements how often, but there were more than a few that argued essentially that Anderson would arrive in 2010, bumping Youk to 3B, so there was no need for Tex. I don't know that I honestly would have loved a Tex signing, but that kind of reasoning, for a big-market team, struck me as . . . ill-considered. Was it the prevailing sentiment? No, clearly not. But it did exist, and not just among some lunatic fringe.

As to the other point, so what? BA may have rated him 17th, and they may have been correct -- but the 17th-best prospect in the game, a 20-year-old with a third of a season at AA in which he flashed solid but not spectacular power, is not someone you let prevent you from signing Mark Teixiera, if you have the financial wherewithal and you really think it's a good idea.

I might have objected to a Tex signing on the basis that it was too much money and too many years for a guy who plays first base and is good for a 950 OPS right now, in his prime. But Lars Anderson? An object lesson in why a big-market team should not let a good-not-great prospect prevent it from signing a big-ticket free agent.

I have no explanation for Almanzar's horrid slump. I will say, he is way too loud at the plate and his pitch recognition is not very good.

On a positive note, he has been excellent defensively at 3rd. Each game I've been to this season he's made a brilliant play coming in on the ball and getting the runner at 1st after a barehand pickup. He's got an excellent arm and good range. He does have some errors, which I haven't seen in person.

I'm not saying they're wrong about that assessment, but if you can rate a guy in the top 20 and 70 games later he's a "starter on a second division team," there's something wrong. And "second division team?" What is this, 1949? Maybe he should call for more high pitches when he steps in against the opposing hurler.

I agree with that 100%. I'm as down on Anderson as the next guy but he is only 21 which is young for AA so it seems like some patience is in order. I think Ellsbury kinda screwed things up for everyone else. Now once a guy gets to Portland it's "let's see him dominate the Eastern League and get to Boston by July" which is pretty rare.

One concern I have with Anderson is that he seems like a really sweet, sensitive kid. Not a personality type you see in the major leagues a whole lot. See this quote from yesterday's Globe:

“I’m having fun with these guys,’’ [Anderson] said. “I think we’ve grown as a team and for me individually I know that I’ve grown a lot. Both on and off the field, and some of that is painful. Whether we like it or not, I think 21 years of age is an interesting time. There’s a lot of searching and wanting and longing. That thirst can’t always be quenched in the timeframe that you necessarily want it to be.’’

I'm definitely rooting for him. If Lars can make it, he'll be a ton of fun to watch, just for the postgame thoughts.

I was saying in the main board Iglesias thread that I was waiting to see someone publish the sort of scouting report that would begin to justify a major league deal and a big bonus. The BP report, with its "fringe average speed" especially, looked like a disaster. The BA blog item on Iglesias is better:

Two scouts with American League organizations independently arrived at the same conclusion about Iglesias, a 19-year-old middle infielder. Both compared him to Orlando Cabrera for his batting stance, infield actions and offensive potential.

"He’s a stud," one of the scouts said. "He’s a plus run and plus arm Orlando Cabrera clone. He’s got a quick bat but I didn’t see much power."

The OC had very good doubles power for most of his career, and he was a great defensive shortstop in Montreal. If Iglesias has the tools and actions to be a plus shortstop, and potential to hit for average with doubles power, I'll definitely take it.

I've not really commented on this because MCOA is saying all the stuff I'm thinking. Even the last, positive bit he posted, it's still fairly faint praise. We're shelling out a record bonus for the next OCab? The one thing that comforts me a bit about it is that Boston certainly didn't bid $8 mil in isolation. If they went that high, there must have at least been other offers in the $5 mil to $6 mil range. At least they're not the only ones who think he's a great talent.

Then again, the Red Sox apparently think Jason Place is ready for AA, after posting a .720 OPS in Salem. On the bright side, he has maintained a K/game ratio above one (85/76), which is apparently crucial for Red Sox prospects.

Jason Place is white? I would've sworn I saw pictures when he was drafted that indicated otherwise.

I agree that it's far too early to be getting that down on Lars, let alone writing him off as a prospect. Including last season’s stint, despite the underwhelming first half of 2009 he’s still got an OPS well north of .800 in AA at 20-21 years old. Expecting him to beat down the door and seize the 1B job in 2010 was and is premature, but I wouldn’t say he’s embarrassing himself at the moment. His walk rate remains solid, which suggests to me that his approach is still quite mature but he’s having trouble squaring the ball up as he adjusts to the higher level.

Pedroia and Youkilis had similar dips in performance after being promoted, as I recall. Also similarly, those guys’ power didn’t really blossom until their mid-twenties. Lars isn’t likely to turn into a big-time masher, but was that ever really his projection? I always thought of him as more Joey Votto than Ryan Howard.

Apparently the Cubs were the second closest bidders for Iglesias at something like 6.5 million. So, yes, other teams saw something in him. Perhaps the Red Sox thing he's a better hitter than the scouts are giving credit for. Secondly, if you can get a +10 defensive shortstop, his bat would have to be pretty atrocious to not be a player that added at least a few wins above replacement.

Pedroia and Youkilis had similar dips in performance after being promoted,

Both had their dips after being promoted to AAA, not AA, which is possibly meaningful. Youk tore up AA - .344/.464/.500 in 2002, then .327/.487/.465 in 2003 before he was promoted. Pedroia was similarly excellent (.324/.409/.508, after blowing away two levels of A ball). The again, both of these guys were a couple of years older than Lars is now - I totally agree that it's too early to get too down. If he has a nice second half, his future will still look pretty bright.

I just hope he's not the new Daric Barton. Also, Youk sure was a fun prospect to follow - check out those OBPs - great to see him develop some power and really hit his stride over the past few years.

Jason Place is very white and very unready for double-A. This falls into the getting thrown into the deep end category of development I guess.

I agree. It's hard to interpret his promotion as a sign that the Sox brass think he's actually ready for it. More likely, I think they're probably just sick of seeing him stagnate in A-ball. "He's got nothing left to prove at that level" also applies, but not for the reason we'd like.

Looks like Westmorland is really crowds the plate. Will be interesting to see how he adjusts to better pitchers busting him inside.

And holy crap, Lowell plays a lot of annoying music. Obviously minor league parks have a lot of other "entertainment" stuff going on during the game, but some of that was being played right over the pitcher coming to the plate. I never see that in Wilmington or what I remember of other parks.